December 13, 2010

Android Dominates Smartphones at Verizon

Devices running Google's Android platform made up 80 percent of the smartphones Verizon Wireless sold in November, according to analysis by ITG Investment Research. The popularity of Android at Verizon appears to have cut into the sales of Research In Motion gadgets--a worrisome development for the BlackBerry maker, which has historically relied on Verizon for a large portion of its sales.


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December 10, 2010

Google Activating 300,000 Android Devices per Day

Google's vice president of mobile platforms, Andy Rubin, recently tweeted that the company is seeing 300,000 Android activations per day. That's up a lot from just four months ago, when Google CEO Eric Schmidt announced that the company had hit 200,000 Android activations per day.

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U.S. Mobile Advertising and Search Market Report - Penetration Levels are at the 90% Mark

Frost & Sullivan's new report "U.S. Mobile Advertising and Search Market" reveals that the U.S. mobile penetration levels are at the 90 percent mark. An increasing number of mobile subscribers are using various content services and applications on their devices, which opens up newer avenues for mobile advertising.

Penetration of next-generation mobile handheld devices such as smartphones and tablet PCs have opened up newer possibilities in mobile advertising. Adoption of mobile advertising by the nation's largest mobile operators and innovative MVNOs as well as entry of the online advertising leaders is a testament to the perceived potential of the market opportunity.

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iPad 2 Production Rumors Swirl

Apple's iPad got an iOS 4.2 update just in time to let the devices perform a few new tricks for the holidays this year, but exactly what the company's next generation of tablet hardware will be capable of is still largely a mystery. If the iPad follows suit with Apple's other iProducts, it should be due for a refresh in 2011, and a new report claims that the iPad 2 will be in production no later than February.


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iPad Sales to More Than Double Next Year

Apple will have sold 8.5 million iPads in the US by the end of this year, eMarketer estimates. That makes up the vast majority of total US tablet sales, at 88%.

iPad sales in particular and tablet sales overall will increase dramatically over the next two years. Nearly 20 million of Apple’s shiny touchscreen devices will be sold next year, an increase of 127%, and by 2012 sales will surpass 30 million. Meanwhile, the tablet market will diversify and the iPad’s share will decline somewhat, to 74% of the total by 2012.


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December 8, 2010

Local Mobile Ad Spending to Continue Dramatic Growth

U.S. local spending on the mobile channel is set to rise from $404 million this year to $692 million in 2011 and over $2 billion by 2014, BIA/Kelsey projects.

“We expect to see more bundling of mobile advertising by digital and local media companies, in an effort to lower the barriers for adoption by small and medium-sized businesses,” said Michael Boland, program director at BIA/Kelsey, in statement. “As a result, mobile advertising will move down market to SMB and mid-market segments, increasing the overall revenue opportunity and share of geotargeted ads. This down-market shift will be coupled with large advertiser evolution and adoption of mobile local ad distribution.”



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December 6, 2010

Apple Mobile Market Domination Extending to 2011: Report

Michael Walkley, a technology industry analyst with Cannacord Genuity, believes Apple will continue to dominate the global market for mobile devices in 2011.

“Based on continued strong sell-through trends for the iPad and the iPhone, we believe Apple will maintain both market and value share leadership in these fast growing markets through C2012,” Mr. Walkley said in a note to clients on Thursday.

Walkley expects the iPad’s ownership of the tablet PC market to drop from 76% in 2010 to 48% in 2011, though he argues Apple will still be positioned to take “well above 80%” of the profits for the tablet market both this year and next.

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Apple iPad, iPhone Sales Will Remain Strong Through Holidays: Analyst

Apple's holiday sales will remain strong, says an analyst from Ticonderoga Securities. While certainly no surprise given the company's performance throughout 2010, the new research note counterbalances some concerns about both the general weakness of the economy and analyst reports suggesting sales of iPads and other devices will underwhelm.

"With the powerful combination of Apple's iPad, iPhone 4, refreshed iPod/iPod Touch portfolio, the new MacBook Air and Apple TV, we believe Apple is positioned for a big holiday season this year," Brian White, an analyst with Ticonderoga Securities, wrote in a Nov. 29 research note. "Regardless of the overall strength during Black Friday and the holiday season at large, we believe Apple has the products that consumers demand."

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U.S. Mobile Ad Revenues To Reach Nearly $3 Billion By 2014

Images from BIA/Kelsey's U.S. Mobile Ad Revenue Forecast report.



comScore: Smartphones Now Used By 1 in 4 U.S. Mobile Subscribers

According to comScore, 60.7 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in October, up 14 percent from the preceding three month period. This represents one out of every four mobile subscribers.

RIM was the leading mobile smartphone platform in the U.S. with 35.8 percent share of U.S. smartphone subscribers, followed by Apple with 24.6 percent share (up 0.8 percentage points).

Google Android saw another month of strong growth, rising 6.5 percentage points to capture 23.5 percent of smartphone subscribers.

Despite losing share to Android, most smartphone platforms continue to gain subscribers as the smartphone market overall continues to grow.

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December 1, 2010

Local Will Be Prime Driver Of Rise In Mobile Ad Spending

Analysts are feeling ever-more confident in the growth of mobile advertising. The latest comes from BIA/Kelsey, which is predicting that the U.S. mobile ad revenues will grow from $491 million last year to $2.9 billion in 2014. That’s a compound annual growth rate of 43 percent and is based on expectations for rising mobile search ads, display on both apps and mobile web sites and text messaging. But the big spending will come in the form of local ads, which now makes up less than half of the mobile ad market. That will change significantly by 2014.

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BlackBerry Users Now Consume More Mobile Data Than iPhone And Android Users

In the month of November, BlackBerry overtook Apple and its iOS in mobile internet usage in the U.S. But StatCounter, the researchers who compiled the numbers, said that those rankings didn’t bear out worldwide, where Symbian kept a comfortable lead in front of the competition.

Overall in the U.S., StatCounter says that BlackBerry OS accounted for 34.3 percent of all visits, compared to Apple’s iOS at 33 percent in November. It says Google’s Android is “rapidly gaining and has almost tripled internet market share” from 8.2 percent last November to 23.8 percent this year.

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November 30, 2010

Kindle Feels iPad’s Heat, Sees E-Reader Lead Going Up in Smoke

According to a new survey from ChangeWave, the iPad has doubled its share of the e-reader market since August and is now just 15 percentage points shy of the Kindle.

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Which Retailers Did Mobile Users Checkin To The Most On Black Friday?

Trendrr and AdAge have released data showing the number of mobile checkins received by large retail brands on Foursquare based on Black Friday.

Target garnered nearly a quarter of all checkins, followed by Walmart, Best Buy and Toys “R” Us. Target received a total of 17,872 checkins on Friday, with Walmart capturing 12,639 and Best Buy capturing 10,565.

It’s interesting to mention that the report excluded non-retailers from the list, or otherwise Starbucks would have been the clear leader with over 25,000 checkins on Friday alone.

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Survey: 9 Out Of 10 Mobile Shoppers Use The Mobile Web While In-Store

New research commissioned by Nielsen and Yahoo! gives more insight into the role of mobile technology in brick and mortar stores, with the new “Mobile Shopping Framework” study finding that 9 out of 10 mobile web users have logged on while in a store.

Data shows that 50 percent of users in-store mobile web activity is shopping related and, for just over half (51 percent), in-store mobile research has led to a purchase.


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BlackBerry App World Reaches 15,000 Apps

RIM's BlackBerry App World has grown at a drastically slower rate than its Apple- and Google-run competitors. The store launched in March 2009 and reached the 10,000 app mark in early September of this year. The good news is, App World added 5,000 apps in the last 13 or 14 weeks.

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Millennial: Android Ad Requests Grow 65% in October

Impressions increased 34 percent month-over-month in October 2010 across the Millennial Media mobile advertising network, according to their latest Scorecard for Mobile Advertising Reach and Targeting report.

Android requests grew 65 percent month-over-month, with the platform experiencing 2182 percent growth since January. Ad requests across Apple's iPad tablet increased 112 percent last month, with requests originating via Research In Motion's BlackBerry smartphones growing 43 percent.

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November 29, 2010

Opera: Generation Y Favors Mobile Web Over Desktop

More Opera Mini browser users ages 18 to 27, also known as"Generation Y,"use their mobile phones to browse the web than they do their desktop or laptop computer, according to Opera Software's latest State of the Mobile Web report.

Here are some other interesting facts from their report:
>Almost 90 percent of U.S. respondents aged 18 to 27 have used their phones to share photos.

>Forty-four percent of U.S. respondents have asked someone out on a date via SMS.

>Generation Y users in the U.S. and China share a mutual disdain for printed newspapers. Fifty-three percent of U.S. respondents and 57 percent of Chinese respondents rarely or never read physical newspapers.

>Over 10 percent of U.S. Gen Y respondents say it's always okay for friends to browse or send text messages during a restaurant meal--close to 30 percent say it's usually okay, a little over 30 percent feel it's generally impolite and about 25 percent don't care either way.

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eBay Mobile Sales Nearly Double Black Friday 2009

Digital marketplace eBay reports that Black Friday sales in the U.S. across its suite of mobile applications almost doubled over the previous year, with the company's worldwide mobile sales on track to nearly triple over 2009. According to eBay, mobile bidding on Black Friday increased 30 percent over the previous Friday, with peak mobile buying hours taking place between 8:00 pm and 10:00 pm ET. eBay expects to top $1.5 billion in mobile sales this year--since the introduction of its first mobile application in July 2008, on-the-go consumers have bought or sold nearly 30 million items.

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Mobile Advertising Meets Classic Cars & Hot Rods

Las Vegas based advertiser AdRods has an interesting new idea – take classic Hot Rod cars, and put mobile advertising on them. The ads include mobile direct response mechanisms including short codes and photo redemption campaigns.

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iPad, Smartphones Dragging Down PC Sales

Gartner has lowered its 2010 and 2011 global forecasts for PC shipments, saying sales will be lower than expected due to growing interest in Apple's iPad and other tablet computers. The research firm said Monday that PC makers are on track to ship 352.4 million units this year, up 14.3% from 2009. Gartner had predicted in September a 17.9% increase.

Gartner also lowered its 2011 forecast to 409 million units, a 15.9% increase from this year. The firm's earlier estimate was for an 18.1% increase.

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November 23, 2010

Nielsen: 13% of Households Use Mobile Banking

Only a small portion of U.S. consumers are banking via mobile phone, but that group is starting to grow to become a measurable presence, according to a new study from Nielsen. The research firm found that 13.2 percent of households accessed their bank account through a mobile device in second quarter 2010 compared 20.8 percent who accessed their account using the bank’s customer service call center. The mobile share is up from 11.6 percent in first quarter while call center access has remained relatively flat quarter-over-quarter.

Mobile bankers tend to higher average balances ($64,303) versus ($48,384) for the average customer and greater net worth ($341,017) versus their online banking counterparts ($313,346) or the market average ($281,263). Nielsen identifies the largest proportion of people banking through cell phones as “mobile office workers”, who are aged 35 to 54 and also the largest smartphone-owning group.

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$5 Billion Mobile Advertising Market in 2015

Mobile advertising specialist Smaato is predicting that the U.S. mobile advertising market will hit $797.6 million in 2010 and grow to $1.24 billion in 2011. By 2015, the company is projecting a $5 billion mobile ad spend.

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Millennial Media: Android ad impressions pull even with Apple’s iOS

For the first time, Google’s Android tied with Apple’s iOS as the largest smartphone OS on Millennial Media’s mobile ad network, with an 8 percent increase month-over-month and 37 percent impression share overall.

According to Millennial’s October 2010 Mobile Mix report, Apple, the leading device manufacturer on its network for the last 13 months, also accounted for a 37 percent share of impressions. Those numbers are another indication of how quickly Android’s market share is growing.

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November 19, 2010

More Than Half Of U.S. Consumers Plan to Use Their Mobile Phone for Holiday Shopping

Mobile Consumer Briefing, MMA's monthly survey of U.S. adult mobile phone users (mobile consumers) about their mobile marketing behaviors and opinions. Available exclusively to MMA members, the new survey found that 59 percent of mobile consumers plan to use their mobile phone for holiday shopping and planning holiday celebrations, not including making phone calls.

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Consumer Reports: Android Pulls the Smartphone Grand Slam

Consumer Reports' latest smartphone ratings show the Android handsets are the most highly regarded across all major U.S. carriers. On AT&T, the iPhone 3GS comes in after the Samsung Captivate (Android OS). Ratings included voice quality, camera quality, ease of use and battery.

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For more, watch NOW partner KWCH's story.

 

November 3, 2010

Industry Trends Spur Big Mobile Ad Spending

US mobile ad spending is set for dramatic growth, with eMarketer forecasting more than $1.1 billion in spending next year. Although cautious corporate optimism about economic recovery will play a part, growth in 2010 will be spurred primarily by the injection of a new dynamic in the mobile space.

Much of this new dynamic is attributable to the entrance of Google and Apple and the ways both companies have sought to redefine the mobile device and advertising markets.

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November 1, 2010

Nielsen: Smartphones Now 28% of U.S. Cellphone Market

The Nielsen Company today reported that as of the third quarter of 2010, 28 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers now have smartphones, cellphones with operating systems resembling those of computers.

The growing popularity of smartphones like Apple’s iPhone, RIM’s BlackBerry devices and a variety of Google Android-based models on the market, has accelerated the adoption rate. Among those who acquired a new cellphone in the past six months, 41 percent opted for a smartphone over a standard feature phone, up from 35 percent last quarter.

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October 28, 2010

FOX 4 Social Media Spoof An Unexpected Internet Hit

A FOX 4 spoof designed to entertain journalists has become a big hit outside the news business.

The skit, created by FOX 4's Tadd VanCleve, is a tongue-in-cheek critique on the increased use of social media in reporting. It features a faux news report about a City Hall shooting, peppered with plenty of Facebook and Twitter mentions.

In just days the sketch had been viewed nearly 70,000 times on YouTube.

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October 27, 2010

Health Apps a Big Hit on Smartphones

The Pew Internet Project's latest survey of American adults, conducted in association with the California HealthCare Foundation, revealed that 17 percent of cell phone users look up health or medical information on their device.

This is especially popular among cell owners age 18 to 29. In fact, 29 percent of this demographic have done such searches.

Many consumers also have health-related apps on their smartphones to get nutrition information, count calories, calculate body mass index and learn new exercises, the survey found.

Cell phone users between 18‐29 years old are more likely than older cell owners to use mobile health apps: 15 percent do so, compared with eight percent of cell users ages 30‐49.

Nine percent of all cell owners have apps on their phones that help them track or manage their health.

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October 25, 2010

October 22, 2010

Gartner Says Mobility will be a Trillion Dollar Business by 2014

Worldwide mobile voice and data revenue will exceed one trillion dollars a year by 2014, according to Gartner, Inc. Mobile will generate revenue from a wide range of additional services such as context, advertising, application and service sales, and so on. Each of these will be a significant business worth several tens of billions of dollars per year.

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Global Smartphone Shipments Surge to 77 Million Units in Q3 2010

According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global smartphone shipments grew an impressive 78 percent annually to reach a record 77 million units in the third quarter of 2010. Apple was the star performer, as it overtook RIM and closed the gap on Nokia.

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October 21, 2010

Nielsen: Most iPad owners downloading premium apps

Sixty-three percent of iPad owners have downloaded premium applications to the tablet device, according to a new consumer survey published by market research firm Nielsen.

Games top all paid iPad download categories, acquired by 62 percent of all premium app consumers--books follow at 54 percent, trailed by music (50 percent), shopping (45 percent) and news (also 45 percent). Nielsen adds that 5 percent of iPad owners download only free apps, and 32 percent have yet to download any applications at all.


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October 20, 2010

October 19, 2010

Millennial Media: Android ad revenues outstrip iPhone for first time

Revenues from mobile advertisements running across Android smartphones on the Millennial Media network surpassed iPhone-only revenues for the first time in September 2010, the mobile ad network reports. Taken as a whole, all devices powered by Apple's iOS accounted for 46 percent of Millennial impressions last month, a 10 percent month-over-month increase, with Android at 29 percent (up 26 percent from August)--BlackBerry smartphones follow at 19 percent (up 10 percent month-over-month), trailed by Windows Mobile at 2 percent.

Smartphone impressions increased 7 percent month-over-month to account for 58 percent of total device impressions in September, Millennial states. Feature phones slipped 4 percent month-over-month to 29 percent, and connected devices made up the remaining 13 percent, led by the iPod Touch, iPad, Sony PSP and Sony PS3.

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iPhone Sales Double in Q4 2010

Apple sold 14.1 million iPhones in its fiscal fourth quarter, nearly double the 7.4 million it sold in the year-ago quarter and higher than its previous record of 8.75 million units. Apple also sold 4.19 million iPads during the quarter, higher than the 3.27 million it sold during the tablet's first quarter of availability. The increase in iPad sales missed analysts' estimates of 4.7 million.



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Mobile to Become a $1 Billion Business in the U.S. Next Year

According to a new report, U.S. mobile advertising spending will reach $743 million this year, up 79% from $416 million the year prior. Mobile spending will cross the $1 billion mark in 2011 with sustained growth, though at slower rates.



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October 18, 2010

In-App Purchases Yield More Revenue Than Mobile Ads

Mobile application analytics company Flurry collected data from top iOS social networking and social gaming applications and found that in-app purchases — which encompass virtual good sales and app upgrades — are generating eight times the revenue of mobile advertisements.

Comparison data from Android devices is non-existent because the Android Market does not yet support in-app purchases, a potential huge shortcoming of Google’s mobile app store if the iOS data is reflective of app user interests. Apple, on the other hand, has allowed in-app purchases since the release of iPhone 3.0 OS in mid-2009.

News Over Wireless enables partners to offer in-app purchasing in their iPhone apps. Contact us for more info.

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October 12, 2010

Six mistakes to avoid in mobile advertising this holiday season

No. 1 – Avoid buying cheap impressions

"Look at your holiday campaigns and think of the key role mobile can play within the campaign, not as a separate buy," said Dani Cushion, director of marketing at Millennial Media, Baltimore, MD. "Think of your overall campaign as an integrated experience."

No. 2 – Avoid not setting clear metrics for success
Whether they are performance or brand focused, setting clear metrics for success are imperative in mobile advertising during the holidays, per Mr. Johar.

No. 3 – Not leveraging targeting parameters
Mobile advertising enables incredible targeting parameters, per Mr. Johar.

"Mobile advertising offers the unique ability to target your audience through a number of methods, including behavioral targeting, demographic targeting and location-based targeting by country, region, DMA and zip code," said Dani Cushion, director of marketing at Millennial Media.

No. 4 – Not focusing on the experience post-click
"You can make an engaging mobile experience for consumers with rich media creative and highly-engaging post-click actions, including the ability to view videos, drive to social media sites, download apps, directly purchase products and much more," Ms. Cushion said.

No. 5 – Not taking the past into consideration
Leverage what was learned in mobile from previous campaigns to lock up mobile inventory.

No. 6 – Creating ads for a single platform / carrier / mobile device

Don't forget about connected devices such as gaming devices and tablets, feature phones, and cross-platform opportunities.

"Not advertising via mobile misses a key way to reach and engage your target consumer when they are highly-receptive to messages," Ms. Cushion said.
http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8550226756168741735

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October 11, 2010

Mobile Consumers See Value in Advertising

A recent study by mobile ad network InMobi and comScore uncovered some good news for marketers: Consumers are getting more comfortable with seeing ads on their mobile devices.

Of the nearly 4,400 US mobile phone users surveyed, 38% felt mobile ads "serve an important purpose," while an additional 25% stated they are getting accustomed to viewing mobile ads.



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October 8, 2010

Apps Are Fastest Growing Category of Mobile Advertising

2011 budgets for mobile apps are poised to grow 58.7 percent over the course of the upcoming year, accelerating from 2010 growth of 45.1 percent, making it look like apps are the fastest growing category of mobile advertising.

So says an advisory released today by Internet analysts Stifel Nicolaus, a partner with Millennial Media in the DIGIDAY Q3 Apps State of the Industry Survey.

Key findings:

• Mobile apps budgets are estimated to increase 59 percent in 2011, accelerating from the 45 percent growth respondents estimated in 2010. We note that this is more than double the growth rate that we expect for mobile advertising as a whole. Mobile advertising categories include SMS, Search, and Display ad units on mobile WAP portals.

• Mobile apps are gaining share within mobile advertising budgets. In the Sept. 2010 survey, advertisers estimated that mobile app advertising budgets will increase more than 50 percent in 2011. Our prior work has placed the growth of overall mobile advertising at a more modest 20-25 percent rate. In short, the vast majority of growth in mobile advertising is happening on the App side of the ecosystem. One caveat: mobile search advertising trends may not be captured fully in either analysis, as Google's platform bundles clicks from mobile search into its broader AdWords platform.

• Client Demand for Apps Less of an Impediment to Larger Budgets: In the Q4 2009 survey, 31 percent of publishers responded that lack of client demand was a concern in determining mobile app budgets. However, the Q3 2010 survey found that 12 percent of respondents thought that client demand remained a key impediment to higher budgets. Supply-side issues (distribution of Apps and size of the mobile target audience) persist.

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October 7, 2010

Half of Americans Have or Want Internet-Connected TVs

In July, News Over Wireless announced the launch of its first Yahoo! TV Widget in partnership with WRAL-TV. Consumers with Internet-connected TVs powered by the Yahoo! Widget Engine can access the station's local news, weather, sports and more.

Despite disagreement on the absolute numbers, two forecasters project dramatic growth in sales of Internet-connected television sets around the world.

iSuppli Corporation estimated in July that 28 million web-enabled TVs would be sold worldwide this year, more than double sales in 2009. By 2014 the firm forecasts a 428.6% increase to 148 million units sold.

DisplaySearch released a higher estimate of sales for 2010, at 45 million units worldwide, and a more conservative projection for 2014, of 119 million. This still predicts triple-digit growth over the period, of 164.4%.



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October 6, 2010

comScore: Smartphone Subscribers Now Comprise Majority of Mobile Browser and App Users in U.S.

comScore has released a study showing that the number of smartphone users accessing mobile content through browsers and applications now surpasses that of non-smartphone users.

In the 3 month average ending August 2010, smartphone subscribers made up 60 percent of those who used a downloaded application and 55 percent of those who used a browser. The study also described the demographic profile and top content categories for smartphone subscribers accessing applications and browsers.

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September 30, 2010

Forrester: Cell Phones are the Most Widely Used Device

Forrester's recently released "State of Consumers And Technology" declared 2010 the "year of the personal device."

Despite the hype around the iPad's launch this year, tablets didn't warrant much attention in the report, probably because competitors to the Apple device are just starting to roll out, with Samsung's Android-based Galaxy Tab launching next month and several others by year's end and in the first quarter of 2011.

Cell phones were identified as the most widely used device, with 73% of U.S. adults regularly using handsets, followed by PCs (58%), printers (56%), DVD player (55%) and digital cameras (53%).

The report also indicated 7% have downloaded mobile applications. That proportion is significantly smaller than the finding in a recent Pew Internet Project report that 29% of adult mobile users have downloaded a mobile app. One possible reason for the difference is survey size: Forrester's data was based on a nationwide sample of 30,452 adult mobile phone owners, while Pew's was drawn from a sample of 2,252.

One thing that's clear is the gap between smartphone and regular phone uses. A separate study from Nielsen this month said that as of June, 59% of smartphone owners and nearly 9% of feature phone owners report having downloaded a mobile app in the last 30 days. The recent spate of research reports on mobile apps also agree, not surprisingly, that younger users are the most avid mobile content fans.

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News Over Wireless Sponsors Local Mobile Advertising Conference



News Over Wireless was a sponsor for Borrell Associates: Local Mobile Advertising Conference September 27-29.

Android Tops Windows Mobile in Smartphone Share

Google's Android mobile operating system has now passed Windows Mobile in smartphone market share, according to a new report from comScore.

The firm's results claim that only Google's Android made gains for three months ending in July, and that RIM, Apple, and Microsoft all lost ground. ComScore also found that Samsung slightly widened its lead over LG, in terms of overall OEMs.

The report, released Wednesday, tracks mobile subscribers and their smartphones - not overall phones - for the three-month period ending in July. The firm also compared its results with the tallies from the prior three-month period ended in April.



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Nielsen: iPad Owners Younger, More Receptive of Ads

A new study by Nielsen about mobile device users revealed some interesting statistics about Apple iPad owners. First, they tend to be younger men, and second, they tend to be more susceptible to advertising than most (which may be how they ended up with an iPad to begin with).

To complete the study, Nielsen surveyed over 5,000 owners of portable devices, including the Kindle, smartphones, netbooks and more in addition to the iPad. Of those polled, 400 owned an iPad, and the majority of those 400 were young males: 65 percent were male, and 63 percent aged 35 or younger.

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September 29, 2010

September 23, 2010

Geotargeted mobile coupons and ads more effective than online

Mobile coupons and ads that are targeted by location are more effective than online coupons and ads, according to Jill Dvorak, a FitForCommerce executive.

Here are some of the highlights from her Mobile Marketer interview.

Geotargeted coupons and ads will have a much higher redemption rates than online versions, and can potentially make a non-shopper into a shopper by adding that extra incentive.

Affluent shoppers are currently spending the most per demographic on mobile sites as they were the majority of the first adopters to have phones capable of surfing and shopping.

Since mobile adoption is occurring five times faster than other technologies, you can be sure a segment of your customer base wants to interact with your site from their mobile device.

If your customers love gaming, they probably have an iPhone. If you have a strictly corporate audience, BlackBerries are your first device to target.

The younger the demographic is, the more important it is to have a mobile application.

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Credit Suisse: Verizon iPhone will get 1.4M users from AT&T in 2011

An estimated 1.4 million AT&T subscribers will shift to Verizon with the advent of a Verizon iPhone in early 2011, according to a report released by Credit Suisse. Credit Suisse's report relies on a supposed February 15 launch of the Verizon iPhone (based on a Bloomberg report) and other mounting evidence that Verizon will soon get its hands on Apple's goods.

A survey conducted by Credit Suisse indicated that 23 percent of AT&T iPhone users would switch to Verizon given the opportunity — even though most of them are under contract and only 3 percent of the survey respondents said they would break their current contract. About 18 percent of iPhone users said they would switch to Verizon after their contracts expired.

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September 21, 2010

Mobile App Ads To Soar To $8B By 2015

Mobile apps advertising will rocket to more than $8 billion in five years, according to a recent Borrell Associates forecast.

Part of this comes from the growth in receiving mobile ad messaging across a broader range of electronic devices, according to the Williamsburg, VA-based media researcher.

Right now, Borrell says one in every five computing devices can receive mobile app advertising in 2010, but that this will triple to three in five devices by 2015.

Fifteen percent of the $8 billion business, or $1.2 billion, will come from local advertising. This year will end with $305 million in mobile app advertising, which more than doubles in 2011 to $685 million.

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September 20, 2010

24 Percent of U.S. adults use apps on their cell phones

Nearly a quarter of U.S. adults are now using mobile apps, according to a survey by the Pew Internet Project.

The popularity of apps has grown substantially since the advent of what Pew calls "apps culture" which can be traced back to the introduction of Apple's first iPhone in 2007.

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September 14, 2010

Mobile to Play Major Role in Holiday Marketing Strategies

According to Mobile Marketer, brands are going all in to ramp up their multichannel marketing strategy in preparation for the upcoming holiday season.

The article highlighted mobile's ability to make traditional media campaigns actionable and measurable via SMS and mobile bar codes. SMS, mobile web and apps can be used to get the word out about holiday sales, while brands can turn to mobile advertising to achieve sales goals.

"I suspect when we all look back--and we will--to try to understand when mobile moved from interesting to nice-to-have to the heart of an all-channel brand program, it will be Christmas 2010 we all nod knowingly and nostalgically about," said Thom Kennon, New York-based vice president of strategy at Wunderman, part of WPP's Young & Rubicam Brands.

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September 10, 2010

Gartner: Android will surpass RIM's BlackBerry this year

Google's Android platform will inch past Research In Motion's BlackBerry operating system as the world's second largest smartphone platform this year--and will only keep growing from there, according to a new report from research firm Gartner.

Gartner predicts Android's market share will grow to almost 30 percent in 2014. Click here for more. Symbian, which is heavily backed by Nokia, will remain the world's top smartphone platform by market share through 2014, Gartner said, but Android is set for an astronomical rise. According to Gartner, Android will capture 17.7 percent of the smartphone market this year, slightly more than BlackBerry's 17.5 percent share. Symbian will remain on top with 40.1 percent this year, while Apple's iOS will come in fourth with 15.4 percent of the market in 2010.

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IPhone Notches A Monthly Gain In Web Share

Android may be gaining share on Apple's iOS, but that doesn't mean the iPhone itself isn't still going strong as an individual smartphone. Apple's signature device accounted for a 37% share of mobile Web use in August, up a percentage point from the prior month, presumably on the strength of iPhone 4 sales, according to data released by Web measurement firm Quantcast.

Quantcast issued monthly data on mobile Web share based on operating system, showing Android still well behind iOS but continuing to gain ground, with 25% share to iOS' 56%. But in comparing mobile Web use by manufacturer rather than operating system, the latest Quantcast research shows the iPod touch in August dropped from a 20% to a 19% share.

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IDC: Smartphone shipments to surge 55% this year

Research firm IDC said it expects the smartphone market to grow 55 percent in 2010, a greater increase than its previous prediction.

IDC said it now expects handset vendors to ship 269.6 million smartphones this year, compared with the 173.5 million units shipped in 2009. The estimate is 10 percent higher than IDC had previously estimated. The research firm said the introduction of several new smartphones--including Apple's iPhone 4, Research In Motion's BlackBerry Torch and the HTC Evo--caused it to increase its forecast. The smartphone market also will be crowded by more phones running Google's Android platform, IDC said.

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September 8, 2010

Trending Up For Mobile Web

Based on consumer activity measurements in December 2009 and May 2010, Mobile Web Up's internal analysis shows that the population of consumers in the USA who look at websites on smartphones is growing nearly 40 percent a year.

By the end of 2010, the trend predicts 91 million Americans will view websites on mobile phones each month. "This is consistent with other signs of phenomenal growth in mobile web use," says Aaron Maxwell, mobile web design expert and founder of Mobile Web Up. "The consensus is that by 2015, fully one half of all web consumption worldwide will be on smartphones and other handheld devices. Ultimately, the mobile web will actually exceed the traditional, desktop-and-laptop internet in day to day use."

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September 7, 2010

Cell Phones and American Adults

Pew Internet has published some useful demographics about cell phone usage in the U.S. Here are a few points:

>82% of American adults own a cell phone, Blackberry, iPhone or other device that is also a cell phone.
>Texting by adults has increased over the past 9 months from 65% of adults sending and receiving texts in September 2009 to 72% texting in May 2010.
>Teens ages 12-17 send and receive, on average, 5 times more texts per day than adult texters.



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August 31, 2010

Parents Most Interested in Mobile Ads

A new mobile marketing survey from Harris Interactive says that the demographic group most interested in receiving mobile advertising is mobile owners with children.

This group is interested in receiving opt-in alerts from brands, says the study, and the adults in households with children are also generally more "promotionally active" than others, meaning more likely to take part in marketing promotions like couponing, discounts and daily deals.

Those with children under 6-years old were the most receptive to this form of advertising, with 35% in favor of opt-in alerts that arrived via their mobile phone.

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App Store Reaches 250,000 Total Apps, Nearly 25K For The iPad Alone

Apple's App Store has reached 250,000 total apps, reaching yet another important milestone in its short existence.

According to 148Apps.biz, who keeps a running tab on app store metrics, Apple’s U.S. App Store passed the quarter million mark on Friday, just two years and 49 days after it opened to the world. As of Saturday morning, there were 251,007 applications from 50,304 publishers available for download for the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. AppShopper.com, which keeps a similar list, has the total pegged at 253,777 apps, including 24,334 for the iPad.

Roughly 70% of the offerings on Apple’s store are paid apps, while the Android Market, by contrast, has 64% that are free. Other interesting tidbits include the average app approval delay of 6.79 days with a maximum delay of 52 days.

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Android Users Click Ads 81% More Frequently Than iPhone Users

Android seems to be in the spotlight more than ever these days, surpassing Apple in activations, mobile Web browsing and other important categories. According to new data from Chitika, Android now beats the iPhone on yet another vital front — mobile advertising CTR.

In a break down of iOS vs. Android mobile-ad click rates provided by Chitika, Android users clicked on ads 81 percent more frequently than iPhone users, signaling an important milestone as Google and Apple continue to battle on the mobile advertising front.

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eMarketer: Mobile Content Revenues to Top $3.5B in 2014

Mobile content revenues in the U.S. will increase from less than $1.15B in 2009 to over $3.53B in 2014, a compound annual growth rate of nearly 20 percent, according to a new forecast issued by digital intelligence firm eMarketer.

Citing ongoing penetration of smart devices (including tablet units like Apple's iPad), and the increasing ubiquity of mobile broadband networks as catalysts behind the anticipated revenue growth, eMarketer adds that an improved user experience and access to cloud-based content also will attract new mobile content consumers in the years ahead.

eMarketer adds that the mobile video audience will grow threefold during the forecast period, buoyed by improved devices, expanded mobile broadband availability and offdeck viewing options, with revenues surging from $436M in 2009 to $1.34B in 2014.

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August 27, 2010

Nielsen: Mobile To Outpace Internet Growth

Mobile media will significantly outpace the Internet and other traditional media platforms -- especially in emerging and faster growth economies.

A new report from Nielsen Wire, with research from The Cambridge Group, says: "Defying classic economic models, the demand for communication (cell phones) leads traditional media growth, signifying a global, disruptive phenomenon." Growth for the Internet will continue -- but at more predictable growth patterns.

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Mobile Ads are Good Starting Point for Nonprofits Engaging Donors

Nonprofits might be tempted to apply the same rules to mobile ad campaigns that apply to online, but they should think twice before doing that, according to panelists at the DMA's Nonprofits Mobile Day.

The mobile device’s screen size versus the computer’s, or even a layout in print, means that the ad creative and call to action require special attention, and so does location. However, mobile banners do share with online units the ability to let consumers interact in a two-way manner to drive traffic to Web destinations either for donations or alert registrations.

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Millennial Report Shows BlackBerry Has 16 Percent of U.S. Mobile Ads

According to Millennial Media, RIM and BlackBerry users are only about 16 percent of the U.S. mobile advertising market. The iPhone dominates the mobile advertising market taking 55 percent of displayed mobile ads and is trailed by Android which have 19 percent.

Millennial points out that RIM experienced the largest developer growth (9 percent) month over month taking 11 percent of US developer platform usage but they are still beat out by the iPhone at 49 percent and Android at 39 percent.

The other interesting thing to note is that RIM ad requests increased 18 percent month over month and since January they have come up 66 percent. On the other hand, compared to other devices in the report RIM seems to always be trailing as a distant third.

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More Than 50 Percent of Mobile Users Want Location-Aware Advertising

According to a survey conducted by mobile media company JiWire, over 50 percent of mobile users would gladly receive location-aware advertising. Approximately, 39 percent would enjoy a location-based coupon or two if it was sent to their handset and a modest 36 percent would look forward to ads from stores that are in their immediate vicinity. Surprisingly, these shopping-oriented location services ranked higher than reviews, check-ins, and status updating.

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Opera: Women Now 35 Percent of U.S. Mobile Web Users

The percentage of women accessing the web has increased 575 percent over the last two years, compared to 233 percent growth among men, according to browser development firm Opera Software's latest State of the Mobile Web Report.

Women now make up 23 percent of mobile web users worldwide, increasing from 12 percent in mid-2008; South Africa boasts the largest segment of female mobile web users at 43.5 percent (up from 24.7 percent two years earlier), followed by the U.S. (35.6 percent, up from 19.4 percent).

From a global perspective, consumers between the ages of 18 and 27 represent the largest segment of Opera Mini browser users, although 26 percent of users in the U.S. are 38 or older.

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Mobile App Downloads Top 3.8B in first half of 2010

Smartphone owners worldwide downloaded more than 3.8B mobile applications in the first six months of 2010, compared to 3.1B in all of 2009, according to new data issued by market analysis firm research2guidance.

Global smartphone revenues for the first half of 2010 exceed $2.2 billion, surpassing full-year 2009 revenues of $1.7 billion. The study adds that the average premium application price in now $3.60.

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NOW Sponsors Borrell's Local Mobile Advertising Conference



This video outlines the services by News Over Wireless and contains testimonials from local media executives that use the service. The conference takes place September 27-29.

August 26, 2010

Android Web Browsing Surges 400 Percent in Q2

Mobile web browsing across the Android OS increased 400 percent among U.S. consumers between the first quarter and second quarter of 2010, according to new data published by mobile analytics and payment firm Bango.

By comparison, web browsing on Apple devices grew 13 percent during the same period, representing a market share decline of 16 percentage points to 26 percent. RIM's BlackBerry platform remains the percentage market share leader in the U.S., accounting for 37 percent of mobile website visits in the second quarter, up 20 percent over Q1.

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August 19, 2010

Mobile is Best Medium to Get Brand Noticed

A Razorfish executive said that mobile is the best medium to get a brand noticed and achieve specific marketing goals during the holiday season. Mobile calls-to-action featuring an SMS keyword and short code or mobile bar code can make holiday-themed traditional media actionable.

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August 16, 2010

Android Overtakes BlackBerry as Top-Selling U.S. Smartphone OS

Google's Android platform now represents 17.2 percent of the global smartphone market, overtaking Apple's OS as the world's third most popular smartphone OS and edging past Research In Motion's BlackBerry to emerge as the top-selling OS in the U.S., according to new data published by research firm Gartner.

Worldwide sales of Android-powered devices topped 10.6M in the second quarter of 2010, up from just 756,000 a year ago, at which time Android made up only 1.8 percent of the global smartphone market.

"A non-exclusive strategy that produces products selling across many communication service providers, and the backing of so many device manufacturers, which are bringing more attractive devices to market at several different price points, were among the factors that yielded its growth this quarter," said Gartner research vice president Carolina Milanesi in a prepared statement.

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Labor Day & Mobile Marketing Best Practices

While the back-to-school rush is already in full swing, schools in some regions of the country such as the East Coast do not start back up until after Labor Day, meaning that many families that wait until the last minute will be scrambling to get everything they need over the holiday weekend. Mobile is a great way to engage the hordes of Labor Day shoppers and influence their purchase decisions with well-timed offers.

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August 6, 2010

July 30, 2010

Mobile Web Traffic Grows During the Summer

Mobile Web browsing has defied traditional Internet traffic trends by increasing this summer rather than dropping off. The onset of summer tends to mark a decline in Web traffic as consumers spend less time at their desktops and more time on vacation and leisure; however, the mobile medium is not experiencing similar traffic slumps, attributable to the convenience of mobile web browsing, the growth of the mobile sector and the increasing prominence of data plans.

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July 23, 2010

Mobile Browser Usage Peaks in the Evening

Opera reported that in May, the most popular time to browse the web is between 8 PM and midnight. In the UK people are as likely to be browsing the net from 8 AM to noon as they are from 8 PM to midnight. The USA has the most people browsing the web between midnight and 4 AM.

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Pew: 59 Percent of Adults Access Web Wirelessly on Laptop, Phone

Six in 10 Americans now go online wirelessly using their mobile phones or a laptop with a wireless Internet connection, according to a July 7 report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Of the 2,252 American adults surveyed by Pew in May, about 47 percent of them connect to the Web via Wi-Fi or a mobile broadband card on their laptops, up from 39 percent in April 2009. Another 40 percent use the Internet, e-mail, or instant messaging on their mobile phones, up from 32 percent last year. Altogether, that's 59 percent of adults who access the Web from a laptop or cell phone, up from 51 percent.

"The growing functionality of mobile phones makes them ever-more powerful devices for on-the-go communications and computing," report author Aaron Smith, a research specialist at Pew, said in a statement. "Cell phones have become for many owners an all-purpose chat-text-gaming-photo-sharing media hub that is an essential utility for work and a really fancy toy for fun."

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Amazon’s mobile milestone is a signal to other retailers, experts say

In the last twelve months, customers worldwide purchased more than $1 billion of products from Amazon using its m-commerce site, mobile app, text message selling program or Kindle e-reader. The number also includes sales of the Kindle hardware itself, not necessarily purchased through a mobile device.

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News Over Wireless Rolls Out Yahoo! TV Widget

BroadcastEngineering published a story on our Yahoo! TV Widget in partnership with WRAL-TV.

Consumers with Internet-connected TVs powered by the Yahoo! Widget Engine can access local news, weather, sports and more directly from the station.

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Read our press release

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AT&T mobile data revenues grow to $4.4 billion in Q2

AT&T reported second quarter earnings increased 26 percent, galvanized by growing wireless data usage and continued consumer interest in Apple's iPhone. AT&T's net income rose to $4.02 billion in Q2, up from $3.2 billion a year ago; consolidated revenues totaled $30.8 billion, up 0.6 percent over the year-earlier quarter, heralding the operator's second consecutive quarter with a year-over-year revenue increase.

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Verizon Wireless data revenues jump 23.8 percent in Q2

Verizon Wireless increased total revenues 3.4 percent year-over-year, buoyed by 5.2 percent growth in service revenues and a 23.8 percent jump in data revenues.

It added 1.4 million total net customers during the quarter and now boasts 92.1 million total subscribers. With other segments such as ereaders, the total number of wireless connections surged to 99.7 million.

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July 22, 2010

Survey: Consumers prefer mobile advertisements

The Global E-mail Attitudes survey of 13,000 consumers in 13 countries found that most people are receptive to marketing e-mails sent to their cell phones.

In fact, 58 percent made a purchase after reading one of these not-so-junk e-mails. And one in seven U.S. consumers purchased after reading a promotional text message.

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July 21, 2010

Borrell Associates: Local Mobile Advertising Conference

News Over Wireless is sponsoring this event September 27-29 in Dallas.



Are you attending?

Mobile Advertisers Prepare for Back-To-School

According to Microsoft, advertisers are showing great interest in behavioral and custom database targeting. The company also said that its mobile advertising inventory increased dramatically from last year’s back-to-school period.

"Brands are getting serious about how they approach mobile," said Erin Wilson, specialist sales executive at Microsoft Mobile Advertising, New York. "We are no longer in a test phase and budgets are getting even more serious."

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Forecast: App store downloads to top 25 billion by 2015 Read more: Forecast: App Store Downloads to Top 25 B by 2015

The annual number of consumer-oriented application downloads from dedicated app stores is expected to increase from fewer than 2.6 billion in 2009 to more than 25 billion in 2015, according to a new forecast issued by Juniper Forecast.

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Juniper Forecast: Mobile App Downloads To Reach 25B By 2015

A new report published by Juniper Research suggests mobile app downloads will surpass 25 billion by 2015, up from just 2.6B in 2009.

The transition to an app-centric environment has also benefited more established storefronts such as GetJar, which passed 1B downloads earlier this month.

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June 28, 2010

ComScore: Smartphone Adoption Accelerating

According to data from comScore MobiLens, smartphone penetration in the U.S. has grown from 11 percent of mobile subscribers in April 2009 to more than 20 percent in April 2010 -- nearly double in just one year. The total number of smartphone subscribers now totals more than 48 million.


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Apple Sells 1.7 Million iPhone 4s Through June 26

Apple's iPhone 4 surpassed the 3GS' 1 million units sold over a weekend record, and Sunday sales are not even accounted for yet!


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June 25, 2010

Android Phones Burying BlackBerry, Not iPhone

If Research In Motion's latest results are any indication, phones powered by Google's Android software are not the 'iPhone Killers' that so many bloggers and pundits were eager to brand them, but rather they are burying the BlackBerry.

"Based on our store visit findings and product roadmaps, we expect further share gains from Android-based devices, as well as the iPhone," wrote Baird analyst William Power, who downgraded the shares to 'neutral'.

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KRNV Promotes New iPhone App Features

KRNV-TV in Reno, Nev. is promoting some of the upgraded features of their News 4 iPhone App developed by News Over Wireless. These features include story-sharing tools and user-generated reporting capabilities.



Via mynews4.com

WIVB Mobile Promotion

81% of App Store Downloads are Free

Piper Jaffray research indicates that free apps account for about 4 billion total App Store downloads. iPhone, iPod touch and iPad users presently download over 16.6 million applications each day, almost double the 8.9 million daily downloads via Apple's iTunes multimedia storefront. Average selling price among the top 50 premium App Store applications for iPhone and iPod touch is $1.49. Among the top 30 paid iPad apps, the average price jumps to $4.66.

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June 24, 2010

iPhone & Droid Apps for FOX 5 & myfoxdc

WTTG-TV recently launched their iPhone and Android Apps from News Over Wireless. See how they are promoting them to their viewers.



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160,000 Android Phones Activated Per Day

Google Vice President Andy Rubin stated on Wednesday that there are more than 160,000 Android devices sold and activated daily. That's almost two phones every second. Even more impressive is that Android has grown 60 percent since about one month ago.

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June 23, 2010

Sprint Earns High Marks in 2010 American Customer Satisfaction Index

Sprint is the most improved company in customer satisfaction, across all industries, over the last two years, according to results from the 2010 American Customer Satisfaction Index.

News Over Wireless partners with Sprint on premium applications and Sprint TV.

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AT&T Won’t Have New iPhones Outside of Preorders Until June 29

AT&T said Tuesday that it would not have iPhones to sell until June 29.

Record demand for the iPhone 4 led to sellouts of pre-orders. Apple, however, said Tuesday that a "limited number" of iPhone 4s will be available at retail outlets on Thursday.

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June 22, 2010

Fidelity Investments Pushes iPhone App Via Mobile Banner Ads

Fidelity Investments is running a rich media ad campaign via Yahoo Mobile properties to promote its iPhone application to users of the smart phone.

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June 1, 2010

Smartphones and Connected Computing Devices to Generate 87% of US Operator Cellular Traffic by 2014

According to a report on U.S. mobile operator network traffic, smartphones and connected computing devices will be the primary drivers of data traffic over the next five years. By 2014, says ABI Research, these device categories will generate more than 87 percent of total mobile network data traffic for U.S. operators.


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iPhone 3GS price slashed at Wal-Mart

Apple Inc.'s popular iPhone 3GS was available for half its current price at Wal-Mart Stores last Tuesday, signaling a potential clearing out of inventory before the company refreshes the product line later this summer.

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May 28, 2010

Millennial Media: Top 10 Vertical Advertising Markets

Millennial Media recently shared a list of the Top 10 vertical advertising markets.

1. Portals and directories

2. Entertainment

3. Telecommunications

4. Travel

5. Finance

6. Education

7. Dating

8. CPG

9. Pharmaceuticals

10. Retail and restaurants

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Apps are a must-have element to brands’ overall marketing strategy

With smartphone penetration increasing steadily, mobile applications are on brands’ radar as a necessary complement to their overall marketing strategy.

From pay-per-download, in-application micropayments and subscription models to free/ad-supported and branded/promotional, there are different types of applications to meet various brand objectives. And while SMS and the mobile Web still provide the widest reach, applications provide the most optimized rich media experience and help brands reach desirable affluent demographics.

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Brands can use mobile video ads to complement TV spots

Research released by Rhythm NewMedia reveals that mobile video advertising can be used as a complement to television campaigns. Data reflects ads that have achieved more than 250 million average monthly content views on iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Android devices in the United States.

News Over Wireless supports mobile video ads for its partners.

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ABI: 27% of U.S. mobile web users have clicked ads

Twenty seven percent of U.S. subscribers accessing the mobile web have clicked on mobile advertisements, according to a Feb. 2010 consumer survey conducted by ABI Research--by comparison, only 21 percent of users had clicked on ads when the analyst firm conducted a similar study in Dec. 2008.

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Google completes AdMob purchase

Google on Thursday said it has completed its purchase of mobile advertising network AdMob and is eagerly integrating its technology into the Internet giant's services.

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May 21, 2010

BlackBerry Web consumption surges beyond 9-5 hours

BlackBerry users nationwide browse the Internet more outside of normal business hours, per a new study from Bango Inc. that may dispel the notion of that smartphone as only a working tool.

Data based on Bango traffic on BlackBerry devices indicate that 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. are the busiest times for mobile Web consumption, according to the mobile analytics and payments company. The growing availability of Wi-Fi is instrumental in this surge in off-hours Web usage.

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Report: Nearly half of all new phones sport touchscreens

In March, 24 vendors introduced 51 new cellular handsets and four new USB dongles. According to the trends, the average screen size of handsets released in March was 2.64 inches, and fully 44 percent of the phones had touchscreens.

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Mobile Marketer: Why brands must have a 360-degree mobile Web strategy

This blog post on Mobile Marketer goes over reasons why brands should go beyond a mobile-optimized site and tie mobile to traditional marketing. Read more

One way that News Over Wireless enables this through the recently updated iPhone apps for local TV stations giving users Smart URLs when they share a link with friends. This Smart URL will detect if the recipient is on mobile or their computer and provide the appropriate link.

News Over Wireless also supports local and national mobile advertising efforts on mobile web and in the iPhone app.

Millennial Media: Mobile Ads Go Beyond Phones

Millennial Media’s recent Mobile Mix report underscores the need for advertisers to consider devices beyond phones when planning their mobile buys. The top devices on Millennial's network included the iPod Touch and gaming devices such as the Sony PSP and Nintendo Wii.

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May 13, 2010

WPTV Uses iPhone News Alerts in Efforts to Identify Child

This story is a great example of how our station partners are extending their reach by using mobile.

Last Saturday afternoon, Palm Beach County sheriff's deputies picked up a young girl walking alone on the road. Because the child was hearing impaired, she couldn't tell the deputies her name or any other information.

WPTV put the word out and sent out a news alert to iPhone app users hoping to help identify the child.

The child was later identified and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office reported that calls came in after local media websites, including WPTV.com, published their stories.

Read the story



Android OS Exceeds iPhone OS in Q1

According to NPD Group, handsets running the Android OS accounted for 28 percent of the units sold to U.S. consumers in Q1 knocking the iPhone OS down to the No. 2 spot behind BlackBerry.

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NOW Partners Using iPhone News Alerts for Breaking News

Earlier this month, NOW released the News Alert System for iPhone apps, and many of our partners have been taking advantage of its capabilities. Check out some examples.







If you don't have an iPhone app yet, contact us for more information.

May 11, 2010

iPhone exclusive to AT&T until 2012?

Court documents discovered by Engadget show Apple asserting that their deal with AT&T for iPhone exclusivity lasts five years. There is some uncertainty surrounding the validity of these documents now, as they could have been amended.

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Mobile Ads Give Brands Big Lift

InsightExpress reports mobile ads are significantly more effective than online ads across several branding metrics. In a study of US mobile and online campaigns, exposure to mobile advertisements provided two and a half times the lift of online ads for ad awareness, for example, and a striking six times the lift in purchase intent.

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May 7, 2010

WSJ Uses Foursquare To Alert Users About Times Square Evacuation

The Wall Street Journal just checked-in on social location service Foursquare to tell people that Times Square has been evacuated due to a suspicious package (a false alarm).

Do you use Foursquare?

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April 30, 2010

Tim Reynolds: 7 Ways To Grow Station Web Revenue

Tim Reynolds, director of interactive media for Meredith Local Media Group, shared seven ways that stations can grow web revenue. Mobile made this list:

Mobile and Apps: Mobile sponsorships are starting to sell. Right now it's a simple banner ad on the mobile device leading to a sponsor mobile splash page. The "click to call" feature of the page makes it attractive to roadside assistance, lawyers, restaurants and anyone who wants to be top of mind with the mobile user. As phones get even smarter, location-based services will be the next big thing in the mobile arena.
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News Over Wireless is Meredith's mobile partner for local TV stations.

Juniper Research: Shopping by Mobile Creates an $8B Opportunity for Mobile Advertising and Coupons

The mobile marketing and retail sector (including mobile advertising, coupons and smart posters) will exceed $8B by 2012 globally, according to Juniper Research. The report states that retailers were already starting to exploit the mobile channel through mobile advertising and couponing, and the market for these two activities alone is forecast to grow by half in the next two years.

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Samsung Handset Market Share Drops to 20 Percent

Samsung reported that it sold 64.3 million devices in the first quarter, an increase of 40 percent year over year; however, the company's mobile market share declined from 21 percent to 20 percent. This is the result of increased competition from Research In Motion and Apple.

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Will HP’s Acquisition of Palm Shake Up the Smartphone Market?

Computer giant Hewlett-Packard believes the $1.2 billion it is paying to acquire Palm will accelerate its growth within the $100 billion-plus connected mobile device market.

Industry analysts are split over whether or not HP’s backing will help Palm jostle in a competitive smartphone market ruled by Apple, Research In Motion and a growing stable of Android-based devices.

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Apple to Demand $1M for iPhone Mobile Ads

Apple is planning to charge close to $1M for mobile advertisements included in iPhone applications when its iAd initiative launches this summer.

The Wall Street Journal reports Apple could charge marketers as much as $10M for inclusion in the first wave of iAd promotions when the service goes live on iPhone and iPod touch devices in June, with the iPad scheduled to follow later this year.

By comparison, ad execs say they typically pay between $100,000 and $200,000 for similar mobile deals. The Journal adds that in addition to the exorbitant price tag, Apple is also demanding greater control over campaigns that run on the iPhone platform.

ComScore: Google Android on the Rise

ComScore's U.S. smartphone figures show Microsoft on the decline and Google's Android on the rise. The firm's market share trends for February show Research In Motion's BlackBerry platform retaining the No. 1 position and Apple's iPhone OS continuing to fill the No. 2 slot. Microsoft's market share fell from 19.1 percent in November to 15.1 percent in February, while Android jumped from 3.8 percent in November to 9 percent in February, according to comScore.

RIM kicks Motorola out of Tier 1 global handset listing

BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion (RIM) is now the world's fourth largest maker of cell phones, according to new numbers from research firm IDC. This demonstrates the global strength of BlackBerry as well as the dramatically increasing pace of smartphone shipments.

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April 23, 2010

Spots 'n' Dots: Local Mobile Advertising Surpassed $200 M in 2009

In the April 21 edition of Spots 'n' Dots, a daily TV sales news source, mobile was mentioned.

From the article:
Gordon Borrell, CEO of Borrell Associates, noted that stations are "seeing the emergence of a new disrupter: mobile." According to the report, local mobile advertising surpassed $200 million last year, with TV broadcasters capturing about 12% of the total. "I expect that figure to skyrocket into the billions within two years as the transition from desktops and laptops to hand-held devices takes off," said Mr. Borrell.

Top categories include major retailers, car dealers and real estate agents. Health care is another large category, comprised of hospitals, outpatient clinics, physicians, and other health professionals such as LASIK surgeons, dentists, chiropractors and cosmetic surgeons.

Borrell: Mobile Users Respond To Location-Based Ads, Coupon Biz To Hit $57 Billion in 2014

Borrell Associates are sharing the results of new survey showing one-quarter of U.S. adults have used location-based mobile services. The Mobile Marketing Association survey, conducted in partnership with Luth Research, also found that mobile users are more likely to respond to mobile advertising delivered with location-based targeting than regular ads.

Overall, 91 percent of American adults own a cell phone, according to the survey. Within this group, 26 percent have used a map, navigation tool or some other mobile service that determines their location.

While 10 percent of cell phone owners use a mobile location-based service at least once a week, the number is much higher for iPhone owners at 63 percent.

In addition, Borrell predicts mobile coupons growing from $2.7 billion in 2009 to $57 billion in 2014. Mobile advertising will grow from a $285 million business in 2009 to $11.3 billion by 2014 -- increasing from about one-tenth of total mobile spending to about one-fifth.

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Six Flags maximizes fun for guests with mobile Fun Finder offering

Theme park giant Six Flags is using mobile to provide an interactive tour of its locations to help guests maximize their fun.

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Pepsi drives participation in multichannel campaign with mobile video ads

PepsiCo is driving awareness and participation in its "Pepsi: The Game" program via a mobile video campaign in India.

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Rolex taps mobile to make print ad more interactive

Rolex is just one of several companies that took part in the image recognition-enabled ads that are included in this month’s issue of W Magazine. Mobile social media technology company, Pongr partnered with the magazine to make the ads interactive for the publication’s readers.

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April 14, 2010

Borrell: Local Mobile Ad Spend to Double This Year

According to a Borrell Associates forecast, local mobile spending will double in 2010 as it begins a similar 5-year boom.

"If this were a drag race, the pacer car just exited the track and everyone's hitting the gas," said CEO Gordon Borrell. "With mobile devices already in the hands of 80% of consumers and devices suddenly becoming more graphical and useful, local mobile marketing appears to be on a very fast jag."

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